CHENNAI: The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has planned to close down 20 district institutes of education and training (DIETs) in the state. The staff from these centres will be absorbed into state-level initiatives to strengthen the activities of the body further.
Henceforth, DIETs in Chennai, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Erode, Perambalur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai, Virudhunagar, Theni, Kothagiri and Tirunelveli will train both in-service and pre-service teachers.
According to a government order released earlier this month, the decision was taken as the enrolment of teachers for pre-service training has reduced over the years. Besides, the requirement for in-service training has gone up due to the revision of the curriculum and the introduction of information technology in schools.
The department released a government order in this regard in 2018, but could not be implemented due to pending court cases. As the cases have been dismissed now, the SCERT director wrote to the government to implement the restructuring.
In addition, new divisions including the assessment division, educational television Kalvi TV and state resource centre will be created at the SCERT headquarters. “Over the years, the number of assessments carried out by SCERT has increased and there is also a need to improvise the training provided to in-service teachers. This restructuring will help us to concentrate on these activities better. The promotions in SCERT which could not be given due to the delay in restructuring will also be given soon,” said an official from SCERT.
SCERT has also handed over several redundant posts and created new posts to implement the restructuring. All vacancies caused due to the restructuring will be filled through deputation from Annamalai University only, stated the government order.
Kalvi TV to outsource hiring
The government has also approved the SCERT to outsource hiring of 45 employees except the chief executive officer, to limit expenditure, according to the letter from the SCERT director to the government. The overall expenditure for Kalvi TV has been limited to `3.5 crore per annum.